[Businessmtg] Pittsburgh Convention

[Dawn Werezak]

Hello Everyone,

Sending someone to this meeting to the Pittsburgh Convention has great merit.  The merit comes because it allows one online community to connect with other online community members.

Since Toronto's convention the online community has been in contact with WSO many times to get them to open the doors to having a place to meet (like in Salt Lake 8 years ago) and there has been a on line committee that was dedicated to us (being the on line community) having a room and computers set up and allowing f2f members to get to see us and know what we are about and where we can be a part of the fellowship.  Salt Lake, to my understanding, was a tremendous success.  Toronto, not so much.  

The committee has lost momentum due to the complete lack of acknowledgement or answers from WSO.  The contact was, "we will get back to you later".  Well it is later and the last attempt at contacting WSO and finding out what they are willing to let or help the online communities be visible at the upcoming Convention (which is really close to head office) has met with absolute silence.  The trusted servants of that committee feel a great sense of defeat at the hands of WSO and resignation that we are not being given the opportunity to be represented.  The reason I know this is because I have been involved in that committee and talked extensively with members of that committee. 

I believe that other countries are given rooms to meet and hold meetings, they have representation, perhaps not from their GR's or DR's or Area reps, but from individual members, and I question why on line is not being given that same consideration.  To the best of my understanding from the committee there is nothing being made available to the online communities.

The online communities are a growing and thriving part of Al-Anon.  We continue to average a 100 inquiries to this meeting alone each and every month.  The interest is there and so in the need.  We are an Al-Anon group by every definition.  Our difference is that we are on line and meet in cyber space as opposed to meeting at a physical address where we plant our behinds in a chair and have four walls surrounding us.  The other distinct feature about online meetings vs. f2f meetings is that there is a sense of having no control over the membership or how big it is.  Physical meetings are limited in size by their surroundings, we are not.  We pay our expenses every month, we have trusted servants who work as hard or harder than their counterparts in the f2f world by virtue of the fact that we do most of our business via on line communications, which as you can all see is a lengthy process.  

It is my opinion that by sending a representative of this meeting to the Convention we will connect with members of other online meetings and we will be able to talk f2f about the challenges of our meetings, the challenges and sheer frustration in dealing with WSO, we can offer the support and understanding f2f that is so valuable to our members, and perhaps by virtue of our presence there WSO will begin to understand that we are not going away and that we need to become a part of the fellowship in a very real and tangible way.

The theme of the Convention is "Connecting People Around the World".  This is what online meetings do on a daily basis.  What better way to show the f2f world that than by having representation there and showing them how they too can do that on a regular basis.  

I recently read an article in one of the Forum issues (a couple of months ago) about how the ED and another Trusted Servant traveled overseas to meeting with people in other countries who were trying to get Al-Anon off the ground.  On one hand I was thrilled to hear about their efforts and successes, on the other hand I was completely pissed off that online has been ignored so completely by them.  The entire premise of that tour (and the expenses incurred to do it) was to 'connect people around the world' and let them know they had the support of WSO  and here we are as an online community and we cannot get a response from WSO regarding simple things.

Interestingly enough I let you all know during the last business meeting that I had received three, yes three, emails in a row regarding our Permission to use CAL form from WSO.  I told you all that I had signed and snail mailed it back to them and emailed them to let them know that.  Well our "permission" to use CAL in our meetings ran out on the 8h of March.  I emailed WSO back prior to that date to ask them if we had been granted "permission" to use CAL in our meetings and the response I received was "yes you have, the forms have been snail mailed back to you."  Now when I received those first three emails I not only sent a reply back stating that I had done my part, I also asked for very specific information regarding the KBDM process.  That email was completely ignored and I have received no response to date about it, despite sending it to the very same person who replied to my request to know if our meeting was granted "permission" to use CAL in our meeting.

Do I think it is important to have representation at the Convention...definitely.  Do I think it is simply supplying a "free trip" for someone as has been mentioned several times.  Absolutely not.  This is one of the very few times that the on line communities can get together and meet f2f and talk about their issues and offer support to each other as we strive to bring on line meetings into the realm of the WSO in a tangible way.  Yes the convention is meant to be a fun thing with no voting, but where else are on line communities given the opportunity to meet one another and talk without the added expense of phone calls (time zone nightmares), the cumbersomeness of email and so on.  This is the perfect opportunity to be seen and to be heard and to show that we are only going to continue to grow and that we offer a vital system of support to those who choose to join our meetings. 

Love and Serenity,
Dawn